Mexico+historical+Conflicts

// Mexico’s // Historical Conflicts **Mexico has had its fair share of conflicts over the years, but the very first one was in 1519, and it involved the Aztecs.** A Spanish explorer, Hernan Cortes, landed in present day Yucatan, Mexico and marched inland with just 600 soldiers and a few indigenous allies. They conquered the Aztecs, and within two years the Spaniards ruled Mexico. **The next known conflict was in 1810, when the Mexicans began a struggle for independence from Spain, who had ruled over Mexico for three centuries.** The Mexicans gained control finally in 1821, after forcing the King’s representative to sign the Treaty of Cordoba, and Mexico became an independent nation. Winning their freedom was only the beginning of a long struggle for Mexico. One group in Mexico wanted it to be ruled as a republic and another wanted it to be ruled as an empire. These two groups fought for control, but eventually the Republic group won, and established the United States of Mexico. Unfortunately, the government was broke from fighting Spain and was not able to pay the military’s wages, so the military seized control of Mexico and created a new government. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was in charge of ridding the country of Spaniards after the military gained control. He revoked the constitution and appointed himself president. At the same time, **Americans began settling in Northern Mexico and in 1834 the Americans outnumbered Mexicans in the north. They began talk of establishing their own country, independent of Mexico. In 1835, they declared their independence and the war began.** There were several battles, the Americans winning some, and the Mexicans winning some, but **at the last battle of San Jacinto General Sam Houston captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign the Velasco Agreement in 1836.** The Americans thought themselves independent and called their new nation the Republic of Texas. **The Mexicans were furious and refused to recognize the agreement, and for nine years “Texas” and Mexico had many skirmishes. Finally, though, in 1845, the U.S. admitted the land into the Union and it became the state of Texas, ending the skirmishes.** **This caused Mexico to declare war on the U.S. and the Mexican-American war began.** The American troops were much better prepared for the war than the Mexican troops, and the war was officially over on February 2,1848, when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. The treaty called for Mexico to turn over lands north of the Rio Grande (Texas), as well as all land from the Gila River to the Pacific Ocean (California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, as well as parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico). Later on, Mexico ended up selling the rest of New Mexico and Arizona to America. These were the last major changes to the Mexican boundary line. Santa Anna was removed from power and Benito Juarez was appointed minister of justice. He was a strong believer in the anticlerical movement, which sought to make the Catholic Church less important to the economy. This angered some Mexicans and war began, and continued for three years until Juarez was able to gain control of Mexico City. **The government then began to make efforts of rebuilding Mexico.** **During this rebuilding stage, Mexico quit making payments on loans from England, Spain, and France. All three sent warships to Mexico to get their money (England and Spain), and to expand their power into the New World (France). England and Spain withdrew their troops, but France invaded Mexico on May 5, 1862. On June 10, 1863, Mexico City was captured and Napoleon III (ruler of France) appointed a new emperor of Mexico. Mexicans were very angry and wars continued, until finally, after the American Civil war ended, America became interested in driving the French out of Mexico.** France soon withdrew its troops from Mexico and returned home. **When Pofirio Diaz became the president of Mexico, he was a ruthless dictator and cared little for the poor people. None of the lower class citizens liked him and when Francisco Madero ran for president against him, Diaz had him arrested and thrown in jail.** When Madero was released from prison, he moved to the U.S. and started plotting a way to conquer Diaz. **On November 10, 1910, Madero declared that Mexican citizens should stand up for their rights and protest. This started the Mexican Revolution.**Various rebellions sprung up across Mexico, and some won against Diaz’s men. Diaz became scared, resigned as president and moved to Paris. Madero was elected president but the wars continued and his own men rebelled against him. He was shot by the rebellious group and died. But when the man who shot Madero, Victoriano Huerta, became president, the war did not end, and if not for the efforts of the United States, may have lasted for a long time. With the United States on the side of the rebels, Huerta fled the country. The war did not end after that, but it did die down. **Mexico’s Revolution did not actually end until 1917, when it adopted a new constitution under the guidance of Venustiano Carranza, a constitution still used today.** When Carranza was assassinated in 1920, Alvaro Obregon became president and his presidency, starting in 1921, marked the end of a long period of unrest in Mexico and the beginning of modern-day Mexico. **The conflicts do not end there, though, and very recently in 1968, on the eve of the Olympic Games** (held in Mexico that year), **thousands of students began protesting the political system. President Ordaz ordered troops to fire on the students**, so Mexico would not be embarrassed while the whole world was watching. **Hundreds of students were killed, and international news services were witness to this act.** So began the worldwide pressure for Mexico to clean up its act. The last major conflict in Mexico is the living conditions, and overall life of Mexican citizens, which still is a problem many face today. There have been many arguments among the citizens and the government about how they are being treated and how they SHOULD be treated. Conditions have improved from 1989 when this new argument started, but many people in Mexico still live in poverty. This is the Mexico we know today.